CHAMPCAR/CART: Milwaukee: Thursday practice report

Jourdain leads night Milwaukee practice
MILWAUKEE (May 29, 2003) -- The Milwaukee Mile glowed under the
glare of Musco Lighting for the first time in its long history Thursday
night as the 700hp machines of the Champ Car World Series turned ...

Jourdain leads night Milwaukee practice

MILWAUKEE (May 29, 2003) -- The Milwaukee Mile glowed under the
glare of Musco Lighting for the first time in its long history Thursday
night as the 700hp machines of the Champ Car World Series turned their
first-ever nighttime practice laps on the 1.032-mile oval.

The 90-minute session started as the sun slipped behind the newly-erected
grandstands and ended under a star-lit sky as Michel Jourdain Jr. (#9
Gigante Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone) paced a 19-car field as the
Bridgestone Presents The Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford prepared
for its historic Saturday night event -- The Milwaukee Mile
Centennial 250 Presented by Miller Lite and Argent Mortgage.

Jourdain's best lap of 21.040 seconds (176.578 mph) put him atop
the speed charts, as the Team Rahal driver looks for his first-ever
Milwaukee podium finish. The eight-year veteran scored his first-ever
Milwaukee points with a top-five run last season and established himself
as one of the pre-race favorites with a blistering lap Thursday -- a
lap that was a full second quicker than last year's polewinning
time.

"The Gigante Team Rahal guys really gave me a good car this
weekend," Jourdain said. "I was a little surprised with how
much speed I was able to get through the corners. I really liked the new
aero package and what we were able to do out there. Of course this is
only practice, but I'm really excited about what we can do here
this weekend."

Jourdain came through with his quick time on the 89th of his 90 laps
turned on a cool Thursday evening, vaulting him ahead of series co-leader
Paul Tracy (#3 Player's/Indeck Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone), who
sat atop the charts for the majority of the 90-minute session. Tracy led
the afternoon practice and immediately took the point in the evening with
a quick lap of 21.075 seconds (176.285 mph), but would run only 38 laps
after brushing the outside wall.

"We're pretty happy. I mean, I brushed the wall, which
wasn't good, but we saved some tires for tomorrow, so I'm
pretty happy with the car on fresh tires," Tracy said. "I
mean, we only ran under half the session, so the car is pretty good. It
took guys a long time to beat my time, so I think if we can improve the
car tomorrow, we'll be pretty strong."

Tracy was joined on the practice podium by teammate Patrick Carpentier
(#32 Player's/Indeck Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone), who made a
trip around the Milwaukee Mile in 21.146 seconds (175.693 mph).
Carpentier, whose 1998 polewinning time of 20.028 seconds (185.500 mph)
is still the Milwaukee track record, will be looking to break a two-year
scoreless streak at the Mile and feels that he has a car to contend with
on Saturday.

"The car was a lot better tonight than this afternoon,"
Carpentier said. "At the end there, we put on a new set of tires
for qualifying just in case we can't run tomorrow in
afternoon's practice session because of rain. As far as the lights
go, it's pretty good. It's quite different than what
I'm used to. You definitely don't see as clearly, but I still
really like it. It was a good first time."

Many drivers took Carpentier's lead and strapped on new tires at
the end of the session just in case tomorrow's qualifying runs are
washed out by the rain that is predicted for the area. Five of the top
nine finishers on Thursday all posted their fastest lap times within five
minutes of the checkered flag -- a flag that was brought out about
three minutes early due to a crash involving Ryan Hunter-Reay (#31
American Spirit Ford-Cosworth/Reynard/Bridgestone).

Last year's polesitter Adrian Fernandez (#51 Tecate/Quaker
State/Telmex Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone) was on the pace again in
2003 as the Mexican veteran claimed the fourth position on the practice
charts with a time of 21.155 seconds (175.618 mph). Jimmy Vasser (#12
American Spirit Ford-Cosworth/Reynard/Bridgestone), the 1998 Milwaukee
race winner, was the fastest Reynard on the day and rounded out the top
five in the evening with a time 21.212 seconds (175.146 mph).

Oriol Servia (#20 Visteon Patrick Racing Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone)
slipped into the sixth spot as he looks to extend his run of top-five
finishes to three consecutive races, while Bruno Junqueira (#1
PacifiCare Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone) and Alex Tagliani (#33
Rocketsports Racing Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone) will fill out the top
eight.

Top rookie honors went to Tiago Monteiro (#7 Fittipaldi-Dingman
Ford-Cosworth/Reynard/Bridgestone) who celebrated his team's new
associate sponsorship with Carrera glasses by making an orbit of the Mile
in 21.282 seconds (174.570 mph), which was good for ninth on the day,
ahead of Mario Dominguez (#55 Herdez Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone) who
completed the top 10 with a lap of 21.408 seconds (173.543 mph).

Friday will see another one-hour-and-45-minute practice session beginning
at 3 p.m., with single-car qualifying slated to begin at 8:30. The
qualifying will be carried live by SPEED Channel.

QUOTES FROM TOP THREE QUALIFIERS

MICHEL JOURDAIN JR. "The car was great from the moment we rolled it
off the truck this morning. Everybody from CART and the lighting guys did
a great job. It wasn't like racing at night. It was like racing at
noon our there. I think everybody's going to be excited to see what
we can do out there Saturday."

PAUL TRACY "We're pretty happy. I mean, I brushed the wall,
which wasn't good, but we saved some tires for tomorrow, so
I'm pretty happy with the car on fresh tires. It feels good (to run
under the lights). There's no problem with the lights at all, and
I'm pretty happy with the job that they've done here. We
could probably use a couple more lights here and there, but overall I
think they've done a good job."

PATRICK CARPENTIER "The car was a lot better tonight than this
afternoon. I'm pretty happy with the setup we had tonight. At the
end there, we put on a new set of tires for qualifying just in case we
can't run tomorrow in afternoon's practice session because of
rain. As far as the lights go, it's pretty good. It's quite
different than what I'm used to. You definitely don't see as
clearly, but I still really like it. It was a good first time."

NOTEWORTHY:

* Michel Jourdain's practice-leading time of 21.040 seconds was
1.136 seconds quicker than the 2002 polewinning time posted by Adrian
Fernandez. In all, 17 cars posted quicker times than last
year's polewinning time.

* Gualter Salles made his return to the Champ Car World Series on
Thursday, taking over for Alex Yoong in the #11 Dale Coyne Racing
Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone, finishing 17th in the evening
practice session.